A Quick Interlude
by aces
Summary: The Doctor takes Marc to one of his favorite places in the Universe.


Just a quickie, no biggie—the Doctor shows Marc one of his fave places in the whole Universe…the original story is lost somewhere in my room, and I think that one's better, but this will suffice. The Doc isn't mine, the TARDIS isn't mine, Jimi and Bach aren't mine, but Marc is, so there. I'm just writing this to take up time from my boring existence and will make no money from it.

A Quick Interlude

The Doctor wandered the corridors of his TARDIS happily, exploring places he hadn't seen in centuries, something he was wont to do every decade or so.

As he wandered, his ears pricked up, catching just the hint of music coming from somewhere down the corridor. He grinned, knowing full well which room it came from. He did after all have only one companion at the moment. He followed the music, trying to trace it back to its source.

The closer he came, the more recognizable the music—Jimi Hendrix. The Doctor raised an eyebrow in surprise—he would never have pictured Marcella Sarah Davis as one to listen to Jimi. He knocked on her door.

"It's open," she called.

He opened the door and found Marc poring over a thick hardback book, glasses sliding down her nose and short black hair falling over her eyes. A pile of books were stacked on the desk next to the book she read, and the laptop the Doctor had unearthed for her was open, screensaver blinking patiently the words, "Oh great, I get to be my own airbag."

The college student glanced up and smiled at the Doctor, pushing the book away from her. "Hi-yo," she said, leaning back in her chair and taking her glasses off, placing them on the desk on top of her still-opened book. She massaged the bridge of her nose, brown eyes closed. "What can I do you for?"

The Doctor smiled at the phrase and looked around her room. She'd only been travelling with him a couple weeks, and she hadn't had time to decorate the room, make it her own, but there were already piles of clothes avalanching out of the closet, and stacks of books were multiplying in the corners of the room. Her stereo was sitting precariously on one of those stacks, Jimi still emanating loudly from the CD player. "Just wandering around," he replied finally, his eyes coming back to his companion. "I heard 'All Along the Watchtower' and had to come."

Marc laughed. "It's a wicked version of the song, isn't it?"

"Oh yes. My favorite version." He glanced at the book she'd been reading curiously. "The First World War?" he questioned.

The history major's face flushed. "I was reading _The Wood Beyond_ by Reginald Hill and realized my knowledge of that particular time period is woefully lacking."

"Ah. I recall he did a very good job at description." The Doctor shook his head, images flashing across his mind. "A terrible time."

"Will we be landing soon?" Marc asked, changing the subject gently.

"If you like. Why?"  
"I should put my contacts in if we are."

"Oh," the Doctor laughed. "Well, I'm taking you to a very special place."

"Oh?" Marc raised her eyebrows.

"You'll love it, I promise."  
"Okay." She stood up, grabbing her backpack which contained her contacts and supplies. "I'll meet you in the console room in ten minutes."

It took her a little longer than that (one contact had given her some trouble), but now instead of brown eyes, she had exotic blues ones. She wore jeans and a t-shirt and had added a black blazer she'd found and appropriated from the wardrobe room. She loved that place, went in there daily to see what new clothes she could unearth to try on.

The Doctor saw she was ready, backpack on shoulders, and opened the TARDIS doors. He let her go outside first.

She peeked out, not leaving the TARDIS threshold, then gasped in delight and ran outside, dropping her backpack in the doorway in the process. The Doctor grinned and followed, pleased he'd been right about her reaction.

The TARDIS had landed in a little natural valley, surrounded by trees on all sides, and the ground was covered in dead leaves that crunched underfoot. On one side the sun was setting in a glorious display of reds, oranges, yellows, blues, and purples, fluffy clouds only adding to the splendor. Spectacular. Heavenly. The sky gradually darkened until straight above it was completely black, a sprinkling of stars scattered above, and exactly opposite to the beautiful sunset a full, silvery moon rose in the sky serenely.

"It…is…beautiful," Marc said, eyes shining in the twilight. "What is this place?"

"The Eye of Orion," the Doctor replied. "One of my most favorite places in the Universe."

Marc swung around slowly, savoring the cold air, the sights and sounds and smells of the forest. On a sudden impulse, finding a need to get rid of some excess emotional energy, she ran up one side of the sloping hill, her pounding steps cracking suddenly like gunshots in the perfect silence of the planet.

The Doctor followed slowly and circuitously, finally finding her leaning against a tree, watching the moon in open delight. The sun had long since set, and the moonlight spread itself quietly over the world. She turned slightly at the sound of the Doctor's step, but didn't let her gaze waver from the silvery moon.

"It's beautiful," she said, smiling in quiet rapture. "I love it."

"Good," the Doctor couldn't help but grin, "I'm glad."

The wandered along for a while, but the moon became obscured by clouds and Marc began to get nervous. She'd always had difficulty wandering around forests at night; too many stories of ghosts and witches when she was a little kid, she supposed. "Uh, Doc…" she started hesitantly, knowing he wouldn't like what she was about to say. "Don't you think we should be getting back to the TARDIS?"

"What?" Marc winced; unfortunately, she'd been right. "But we just got here, Marc!"

"We don't have to leave," she protested. "Just…go back to the ship for the night."

"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?"

"Of course not," Marc snapped a little too quickly. She knew without being able to see that his face had an insufferable grin on it. "I just don't want to get lost, not be able to find the TARDIS. Anyway, I can hardly see where I'm going and what I _don't_ need is another sprained ankle. We can come out again and explore in the morning, when it's light out. Okay? Please?"  
"All right Marc," the Doctor sighed mock-long-sufferingly. "If we must."

Marc rolled her eyes, stuck her tongue out at his back, and followed him. After ten minutes of silent hiking, she said matter-of-factly, "You're lost, aren't you?"

"I am not," he snapped. "Just a little…confused is all." Marc failed to refrain from snickering. "Well, it's hard to keep your sense of direction in the dark," he added defensively.

"Of course it is," Marc said soothingly. She knew he was right. "D'you have a flashlight on you?"  
"Do you know, I have no idea…" He stopped walking and rummaged through his voluminous velvet frock coat pockets. "Ah ha!" His hand emerged triumphantly and Marc heard a click. The Doctor's face was suddenly illuminated from below like the Phantom of the Opera or Dracula in an old silent horror movie. Marc burst out laughing and took his arm, each helping the other down the gentle slope.

They quickly found the ship after that ("See? We didn't need the torch after all," the Doctor said; Marc just rolled her eyes) and went back inside, Marc to go back to her studies and sleep, the Doctor to fiddle with the console.

A few hours later, the Time Lord went in search of a part for the console, got distracted by some books in the library, absent-mindedly rearranged the boot cupboard, then decided what he'd just done looked awful so he put everything back where he'd originally found it, and managed to find a pair of boots he thought he'd lost in his fourth incarnation. Thoroughly delighted with the find, he tried them on and found they were too big.

Disappointed, the Doctor went back to the console room and found the main doors standing open. Assuming this meant Marc had gone outside already, he followed.

He stood just outside the outer shell of the old girl for an instant, closing his eyes and breathing in the air, taking in nature's brand of silence. And then he detected music floating toward him on the wind.

Grinning, the Time Lord yet again followed the music and found Marc lying on a blanket she'd spread out on the forest floor, fast asleep with a paperback by Douglas Adams sliding out of her hand. _So much for the history lesson_ the Doctor shrugged to himself and sat down next to her.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared up at the amazingly deep blue sky, completely cloudless, that she could glimpse through the multi-colored-leafed trees. She smiled, enjoying the sensation of seeming to fall and drown in those eminently tall trees and that eminently blue, infinite sky.

She noticed the Doctor and smiled at him without speaking. He smiled back and laid down parallel to her, a couple feet distant, folding his arms under his head to act as a pillow. They lay there in companionable silence, listening to Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."

Marc dozed again and was waked by a gentle touch from the Doctor on her shoulder. She blinked, yawned, and nodded in understanding, gathering up her stuff. The Doctor took the blanket, and together the companions traipsed back to the TARDIS.

Marc took one last look around at the quiet forest while the Doctor unlocked the doors, then she slipped in in front of him when he held the door for her. He followed her inside, and a moment later an odd wheezing, groaning sound filled the forest, breaking the peaceful silence. The large blue police box faded, disappeared, only leaving behind a faint impression in the dead leaves where it had rested for a while.

All was silent again.


End file.
